En resumen
- Week one: get a phone number (the telco checks your ID when you activate a prepaid service)[1] and open a bank account, because almost everything after that asks for one or the other.
- Apply for a tax file number as soon as you have a visa with work rights: it's free, done online, and can take up to 28 days to arrive by post.[3]
- Enrol in Medicare if you're eligible; you have to be in Australia to enrol, and you need your passport or ImmiCard and visa details.[4]
- If you're a citizen or permanent resident, you can drive on an overseas licence for only 3 months after moving to Queensland, so book the switch early.[5]
- Get around on public transport at first: every Translink trip in South East Queensland is a flat 50 cents, except the Airtrain.[9]
What order should you do things in?
Most first-month jobs depend on each other. A bank wants a phone number and an address; an employer wants a bank account and a tax file number; a licence office wants proof of your Queensland address. Doing them roughly in this order saves repeat visits:
| When | Job | Why then |
|---|---|---|
| Days 1–3 | Phone number, bank account, transport card or contactless card | Everything else asks for a number and an account |
| Week 1 | Tax file number application, Medicare enrolment | The TFN can take weeks to arrive; Medicare needs you in Australia |
| Weeks 2–3 | A lease or longer stay, then change your address everywhere | Licence and electoral enrolment need your Queensland address |
| Weeks 3–4 | Licence transfer booked, electoral roll, decide about a car | The overseas-licence clock for residents is 3 months |
If you're still looking for somewhere to live, our guide to rental inspections in Brisbane covers applications, bonds and planning a Saturday of viewings.
Phone and bank account: the first two days
Phone. A prepaid SIM is the quickest start. The telco must check your identity when you activate a prepaid service: you give your name, date of birth and home address, and it checks your documents, either by looking at them or through the government's Document Verification Service, or it verifies you through an existing account or a payment.[1] Have your passport with you when you buy it.
Bank. Moneysmart, the government's money guidance service, suggests looking for a transaction account with low or no fees. If you hold a government concession card you may be able to get a basic bank account, which has no account-keeping fees, no minimum deposit and no overdraft fees. Contactless payments under $200 don't need a PIN. Moneysmart also notes that comparison websites are businesses and may earn money from promoted links.[2]
Ask the bank which identity documents it accepts for a new arrival before you go in; requirements differ between banks.
Tax file number and Medicare: week one
Tax file number (TFN). If you hold a visa with work rights and you're in Australia, you apply online through the ATO's Individual Auto-Registration. It's free and you don't send documents. It isn't available on visas with a no-work condition (8101, 8103 or 8116). The TFN is posted to your Australian address and should arrive within 28 days; don't lodge a second application in that time.[3] Until it arrives, tell your employer you've applied.
Medicare. You can enrol if you live in Australia and are an Australian or New Zealand citizen, a permanent resident, applying for permanent residency, or a temporary resident covered by a ministerial order. Visitors from a country with a reciprocal health care agreement may also be able to enrol. You must be in Australia to enrol. You can do it online through myGov with a current passport or ImmiCard and, if you're not a citizen, your visa details, or with a paper form.[4]
Medicare doesn't cover everything. If you're on a temporary visa, check what your visa asks of you for health insurance before you need a doctor.
Your driver licence: start in week three, finish within 3 months
When you move to Queensland you're expected to transfer to a Queensland licence. Australian citizens, and holders of a permanent or special category resident visa, can't keep driving on an overseas licence once they've lived in Queensland for 3 months. Temporary, business and guardian visas don't count as resident visas.[5]
What the switch involves depends on where your licence is from. The Department of Transport and Main Roads sorts overseas licences into three groups: New Zealand, recognised countries (such as Canada, the UK and Singapore) and other countries (such as China, India and Vietnam). Unless you're exempt, you pass a road rules test and a practical driving test. You bring original identity documents and proof of your Queensland address (not copies), an approved translation if the licence isn't in English, and a declaration about your medical fitness to drive.[6]
Moving from another state? A current interstate licence is transferred for the interstate transfer fee.[6] The detail is in moving to Queensland from interstate, and the overseas rules are in driving on an overseas licence in Queensland.
Driving tests can be booked out weeks ahead, which is why week three is not too early to book.
Address changes and the electoral roll
Once you have a lease, update your address with your bank, employer, phone company and Medicare, then apply for the licence with that address.
If you're an Australian citizen aged 18 or over and you've lived at your address for at least one month, enrolling to vote is compulsory. You can confirm your identity with a driver licence, an Australian passport or a Medicare card, or have someone already enrolled confirm it.[7] When you move house you must update your enrolment.[8]
Getting around while you settle
Public transport is the cheap default. Translink charges a flat 50 cents for trains, buses, ferries and trams across South East Queensland, on a go card, a credit or debit card or a paper ticket. The Airtrain is excluded, and services are cashless. Children aged 5 to 14 travel free on weekends with a child go card.[9]
Whether you'll need a car depends on where you live and work; the trade-offs are set out in do you need a car in Brisbane?. If family plan to visit while you settle, a car for visiting family covers what they need to drive here.
Buying instead? New to Brisbane: getting a car covers safety certificates, registration transfer and what CTP insurance does and doesn't cover.
Fuentes
- Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA): ID checks for prepaid mobiles (consultado el 5 de noviembre de 2026)
- Moneysmart (Australian Securities and Investments Commission): Transaction accounts and debit cards (consultado el 5 de noviembre de 2026)
- Australian Taxation Office: Permanent migrants and temporary visitors – TFN application (consultado el 5 de noviembre de 2026)
- Services Australia: Enrolling in Medicare (consultado el 5 de noviembre de 2026)
- Queensland Government — Department of Transport and Main Roads: Driving in Queensland on an interstate or overseas licence (consultado el 5 de noviembre de 2026)
- Queensland Government — Department of Transport and Main Roads: Transferring to a Queensland licence (consultado el 5 de noviembre de 2026)
- Australian Electoral Commission: Enrol to vote (consultado el 5 de noviembre de 2026)
- Australian Electoral Commission: Update my details (consultado el 5 de noviembre de 2026)
- Translink (Queensland Government): 50 cent fares (consultado el 5 de noviembre de 2026)
Escrito por el Equipo de Rentzy de Rentzy Car Rentals. Los precios, tarifas y normas de Rentzy que aparecen en esta guía proceden de nuestras condiciones publicadas y se actualizan con ellas; las normas fijadas por otros (carreteras, peajes, permisos, transporte) proceden de las páginas oficiales indicadas arriba, tal como se consultaron en las fechas que se muestran. ¿Hay algo desactualizado? Avísanos.
